The Darkest Nights
by MysticalElvenPrincess
Summary: What if there was a small community of humans that had managed to survive all these years? How did they come to be? What is the secret of their survival? And will lost family be reunited? Frankie was married and had children before the outbreak, who are they?
1. Chapter One

"So, what do we do now?" Emily asked her her father. It was daylight and they were out in the yard, and her husband wasn't home, and she didn't have to work, all things considering.

Maverick sighed. "We need to go to Yuma."

Emily nodded, understanding that reasoning. It was the sunniest place on earth, or at least the sunniest place in America at least, so she doubted many vampires would be there. Her father also owned properties there, so it did make a lot of sense. Not to mention, Yuma was also home to a military base, which would provide protection for whatever humans could make it there.

"Okay, then how are we going to do this?" She didn't bother to ask about or mention her mother. She knew she had been bitten and she did complete her change, and it drove a wedge between her parents, not that things were already good between them to start with. Her husband Frankie had also fallen to the epidemic, her brother-in-law, Ed, told her that when he dropped his daughter Alannah off with her yesterday. He gave her to Emily because he feared that Frankie might try to change him, and he didn't want his 6-year-old to be around that kind of danger.

Maverick sighed again. "I just went grocery shopping before this outbreak broke out, and I'm going to pack those, since we need to get all that we can take. But we need to go now, while it's still early in the day and go get some more supplies." He said. "Thomas told me that no one is working at the Walmart or Sam's across the street there, so we'll have to loot."

She raised a brow. "Loot?" She asked. "Isn't that illegal?"

Maverick snorted a bit. "Darling, we're in the middle of an apocalypse, there are no laws right now." He said. "We need to go now and get what we need and get packed tonight and leave at first light, before those vamps get themselves organized." He told me. "Jonah can watch the kids."

Her younger brother was only 10, but was the third eldest child in the family, and he was actually quite mature for his age. "Okay." Emily nodded with a shrug. "Give me 5 minutes." She then went back next door to her house and got her two-year-old daughter, Belle, her five-month-old, Marlie and her niece and took them to her dad's house. Then she and Maverick walked over to the Walmart and Sam's Club that were side-by-side. They went to the carts and Maverick got some zipties out of his pocket and zipped tied two large Sam's Club carts together and told Emily to take it, before doing two more.

"Should make it easier." He shrugged at her questioning look. They went in and there were a few other humans here, not many, apparently, they had the same idea they had. And just as Maverick said, no one was working.

He glanced over to his daughter. "Let's just to make this as quick as we can and get the hell out of here."

"Agreed." She nodded, going to the side closest to them, which was the health and beauty. "This is really weird." She murmured, following her father, figuring it was best that they stayed together. They would start on this end and make their way around.

Emily took just about all the bottles of her favorite brands of shampoo, as well as for Alannah and Belle, feminine products, bubble bath, body wash, the whole nine yards. Maverick had to get his dogs some food and Emily had to get them for her dog, and the cats. As well as Belle's hamster and Alannah's rabbit.

"So, toys?" Maverick asked. "And clothes?"

She was going to say no, that they had plenty, but that wasn't true, Alannah didn't have a lot of toys, her father had only packed her two weeks' worth of clothes and her favorite toys only. "Uhm, we're just going to have to throw and go." She told him.

They went by the toys, and she went down the girl's toy aisle, and just literally threw stuff in the buggy. She knew that Alannah like Monster High, Ever After High, Bratz, Legos, Shopkins, and Frozen, just to name a few, so she got whatever she saw on those. Belle was obsessed with barbie and baby alive to name a couple. They probably spent no more than 15 minutes in this section, before moving onto clothes, she didn't get much here, at least not for her girls, because she knew that they had clothes already, but Alannah, she didn't have much at all.

They then headed to the baby stuff, so she could get as many diapers and wipes as she could, as well as baby formula, toys, etc, most of what she grabbed, she didn't get too good a look.

They went by school supplies and the food section before they left Walmart and quickly went to Sam's Club and got everything they could there and back home. Emily pushed the two buggies into her garage, where she would get the stuff packed tonight before going to get the girls and brought them back home. She put them all down for a nap (though she had Alannah laying on the couch with a movie) while she got everything put in storage containers in the trailer. She also made go bags with snacks and such for Belle and Alannah and for her siblings, as it would be around a 26-hour drive to Yuma from here in Nashville.

She put all the cold stuff (not many) into some large coolers and put them into the trailer as well. Once all of that was done, she worked on packing their stuff. She got out her suitcases and threw her clothes and her uniforms into them and just zipped them. She packed all the stuff that couldn't be replaced such as pictures (except for duplicates that she left for Frankie) and Belle's personalized baby stuff and then the girl's clothes and toys that they already had and put them in too, before she was satisfied with what she had packed.

After feeding the girls supper, and it got dark, they each got baths before she put them all in her bed for the night. She laid in bed with a lamp on and a piece of paper and a pen as she thought about what to write to Frankie.

 _Frankie,_

 _I know you'll hate me for what I am about to do, but I had to leave. You know that I would refuse to make the change. I made a promise to keep these kids safe, I made a duty to my country when I enlisted, and I intend to keep that oath. You need to understand the choice I made. The choice of leaving you was the hardest one that I've ever had to make, because you're my husband and I love you, but I had my family to think about, our daughters to think of. And your niece to think about. I can't let anything happen to them, I don't want this life for our children. I owe them that much. I will be safe, we will be safe. Please don't worry, and always remember, I do love you._

 _Love you Always,_

 _Emily_

She finished the letter and folded it up into an envelope and wrote his name on it. She placed it on the nightstand and looked over to the girls. She had only been 20 when she had Belle, and Frankie was 22 and was also in the army, which is where she had met him actually, she had decided to enlist when she was 16 and graduated high school. She sighed and turned off the lamp and fell asleep before the alarm woke her up at 6 that next morning.

Maverick and Emily had decided to leave at dawn that morning. She made sure to dress the girls warmly that morning, as it was a bit cold in January. She placed Alannah's booster seat in the front seat of her jeep and got her settled in with her go bag, pillow and blanket, as well as her favorite stuffed animal and she did the same with Belle in the back seat before getting Marlie in. She jogged across the yard and handed her dad the go bags for her siblings before coming back to the jeep. She put one of the cat's carriers in between the car seats in the back and the other on the floor between the seats.

She put the rabbit cage on the floorboard at Belle's feet and the hamster on the other side. She got the dog settled in his bed in the back of the jeep. She waited until Maverick was ready and followed him.

They drove pretty fast, and they were able to drive nearly at 90 mph since there wasn't anyone else on the road. Halfway into the drive, she got a phone call. The caller ID on the car showed up as Ed.

"So I am going to assume that Frankie got my note?"

"Yes, he did. I'm with him now." He gave a sigh. "He changed me."

Emily's face fell. While she wasn't that surprised, a part of her had hoped that he wouldn't be because of Alannah's sake. She deserved to have her father in her life, as she didn't have her mother, as she had died in a car accident when Alannah was 3 months old. She had had Alannah in the car, and the baby had survived, and Ed had been raising her on his own.

"I had to check in." He said. "I have to know that Alannah is okay, that you're all safe."

"Yeah, we're on the run, and she's safe. I didn't want to leave, but I am going to protect these kids at all costs. Alannah is here if you want to speak to her."

"Alannah."

"Hi daddy!" She kicked her legs against the seat where she was sitting beside me in her booster seat.

"Are you okay? Are you behaving?"

"Yes daddy."

"Listen, Alannah, daddy has to stay away for a while, so I need you to be on your best behavior for aunt Emmy, do you understand?"

"Yes daddy." She looked like she wanted to cry right there on the spot.

"I love you."

"I love you too daddy."

"You said Frankie was there?" Emily asked. "I need to speak to him."

"Yes, he is." Ed said. "I'll get him." He said. "Good luck and thanks for taking my daughter."

"That's not a problem." The he handed the phone over to his brother.

"Emily?" Frankie's voice came over the phone.

"I'm here, look, you know I was never going to make the change."

"I know, I read your note, and I know you." He told her. "But that's not what I was going to ask you." He said. "I just wanted to make sure that everyone was really alright."

"Yes, we're perfectly fine. Like I told your brother, I have all of them including Alannah and we're on the run." Emily sighed. "I made a duty, to the country, and I'm not going to turn my back on it."

"I should let you go. Please be safe, for my sake Em. I love you."

"I love you too." She told him before they hung up. She then tossed the phone out the window.

Because they were driving so fast, at almost a 100 mph, they were able to get there within 18 hours, and didn't stop, not even once until they reached Yuma. They made it to the city line, where they saw that soldiers were working into the night were putting in a wall and some fences and they stopped Maverick and Emily stopped behind him. A solider came to her window and she rolled it down.

"ID please." He said, after a moment of shining the light in, studying them to make sure that they were still human. She reached into the console and got out her military ID and handed it over to him to inspect.

"Okay Lieutenant Dalton, here you are." He said, handing her back her ID. "Everything is in order, you may come in, but once you do, you cannot leave." He said. "It's not safe."

"Is everything safe and secure here?"

"Yes lieutenant." He said. "Everything is, and we're in the process of adding extra security measures." He glanced back. "General Kane, I know will want to see you, he'll probably stop by tomorrow." He rubbed the back of his head. "You're still lucky to be human, even the president has fallen under the epidemic." He said.

Emily nodded. "So has most of my unit. Some of them should probably be coming here shortly.

"Alright, you're free to go, and I'm sure that General Kane will be in touch soon." He said, before stepping back.

Emily then followed her father to his place and while he pulled in the drive, she stopped in front. He came to her window and handed her a key. "It's house 3496, just down the way here, a couple blocks down." Maverick had two houses in the same housing development and was giving her the other one. "You can do what you want with it. I'm going to get the kids settled in and I'll check in in the morning."

"Okay, thanks dad." She told him before driving that way. It didn't take her long to find the house and she pulled into the driveway and under the carport (the garage was on the other side) and opened the side door before going to get the girls into the house.


	2. Chapter Two

Emily got the girls out of the car and into the house before flipping on the lights. She had Alannah to sit on the couch and hold Marlie while she went back out to get the animals. She got Hunter (the dog) out of the car, and held onto his collar as she led him into the fenced in back yard and let him loose. She had to make two trips to get the two cats, hamster and the rabbit in.

It was getting dark around this time, so Emily only brought in the coolers and something to cook for tonight, they would have to settle on mac and cheese tonight, as that was all the energy that she had for the night. And after baths, she put them to bed, since she hadn't had anything set up, she put them in her bed. While they were sleeping, she walked around the house a bit, trying to figure out where she would put each kid.

There was a separate apartment area upstairs with three bedrooms and a bonus room. Emily figured she could put Alannah up there, and the bonus room right outside one of the bedrooms could be used as her playroom. She then came back downstairs, inspecting another bedroom, one with two closets, a small one that had no use and another decent sized one. This room would be for Belle. The smaller closet, she could turn into a doll house of sorts, for Belle's Barbies.

The bedroom next door to hers would be the one she would use for Marlie. She sighed as she shook her head and walked back into the kitchen and opened the back door to let Hunter go out one last time. He did his business and came back in and curled up on his dog bed.

Emily headed to get her shower and went to bed. She didn't get any more than five hours because she simply could not sleep. She sighed and rubbed her face before glancing over to see her niece and daughter still sleeping. She glanced over to the pack and play, where the baby was still sleeping as well. She looked at the time on the clock of the bedside table and lightly groaned to herself seeing that it was only 5:30 in the morning.

Shaking her head, Emily got up out of bed, leaving the girls and decided to get the day started. She walked to the kitchen and got the coffee started, before going to start bringing boxes in, try to get as much put up as she could before the kids decided that they were up. She started by finding furniture sets in the garage and started setting that stuff up. Starting with Alannah, then Belle and lastly, Marlie.

After that, she started bringing in stuff from the trailer. She started off by putting stuff in piles, one pile for each room. She focused on getting the food in the pantry and the pet food put up.

Emily heard feet shuffling and turned to see Alannah. "Morning." She glanced at the clock, it was 8:00.

"Morning." Alannah rubbed her eyes.

"Do you want breakfast?"

She nodded.

"Waffles?" She nodded again. "Okay. Just sit at the table, and I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Emily went back down the hall to her room and turned on the lights. She looked at the bed where Belle was stirring. She gave her a small smile. "Morning Belle."

She yawned. "Morning mommy." She stood up on the bed and walked over to her mother. Emily picked her up and put her on her hip. She grabbed the baby monitor on my way out as Marlie was still sleeping. She put Belle down on the chair when she got back to the kitchen and started on the waffles. While she was waiting for them to bake in the waffle maker, she poured juice in a cup for Alannah and in a sippy cup for Belle.

She gave them their juice and went back the waffles. "Who wants syrup?"

"I do." Alannah said. She nodded and put syrup on her waffles before looking at Belle.

"Belle?"

She shook her head. She handed her her pancakes and she heard a noise through the baby monitor. Marlie was awake.

Emily went back to the bedroom and picked Marlie up out of the pack n' play and changed her before coming back into the living room. By that time, the girls had finished eating, so Emily settled them with a Disney movie on DVD.

The doorbell then rang, and she sighed. "I get it!" Belle squealed and ran over. She loved answering the door when she heard it.

"Wait Belle!" Emily got up with Marlie and went over and answered it. She was surprised by who she found there.

"General Kane." The general had been her CO when she got my first assignment. She had enlisted after she graduated high school at 16, and went to basic on her 17th birthday. She pulled Belle back away from the door, so he could step in.

"Lieutenant Dalton." He said. "I have to say, it is really good to see you." He said, as she let him in and closed the door. He studied Belle. "I have to say, I can tell this one belongs to Frankie Dalton. She looks just like him."

Emily smiled a bit. "This one does too." She said, as she placed Marlie in the swing and made sure she was secured.

"I take it that Frankie fell under the epidemic?"

Emily nodded, more like he embraced it, but she didn't say that. "Yeah, he did."

He nodded and was silent for a moment before speaking again. "A few soldiers in your former platoon have arrived. And they will be back under your command. I will meet with you all on Monday, I'll give you and them the rest of the week to get settled in."

"Okay, thank you."


End file.
